Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
How to easily start an Online business
Since the surging rise of e-commerce, more and more people are being ignited to have a second part-time job or how to start online business ideas. Maybe you are one of them; then congratulations, you found the right place. Whether you want to start selling products, open online courses, or provide your skill to be a service business, you definitely need a website where people can find you.
I would like to introduce WordPress as the topic because, first of all, WordPress’s market share is 40% in the world. Secondly, WordPress starts as a blog, and also it’s currently the world’s most popular content management, thirdly it’s open-source software which means everyone is allowed to edit or create layout or software on their own. You can have a lot of room to be creative on your website.
Some steps would help you easily build a website.
Step one: Buy a host (website space) and URL, then install WordPress on the host site.
Using an analogy, you may better understand the relationship between them.
The host is like your house, and the URL is your address. And this house may be used by you alone, or you may be using one of the offices in the office building, or you may be sub-leasing the same office with other people. It could be 3 or 4 people or 30-40 people.
If you want to prioritize economy and stability:
I believe you can probably imagine the degree of difference between one person using the Internet and multiple people using the Internet. Therefore regarding the host, I suggest that it can be determined according to your industry and website functions. There are two hosts that I have used, and I am satisfied with my process, so I only recommend these two at present, and of course, you can evaluate and choose your favourite host.
Bluehost host
- Host + URL: The first purchase is about $3.66-/mo -$11.78/mo
- Free Office 365 – 30 days
- Bluehost has a free domain for the first year
If you want to prioritize speed:
Cloudways host
- Billed by hour, payment at the end of the month,
- no contract required
- Minimum 10/mo up to 80/mo
They both have 24/7 Support
Step two: Find your favourite appearance and install
In the control panel, on the left-hand side, “Appearance”> “Theme”> “Add,” here you can search for free “Install,” but don’t forget whatever you Install, you have to activate
After installing the theme, there will usually be options such as “Import Demos” (Install Demos), allowing you to quickly import sample files with one click and quickly set your website exactly the same as the displayed website.
> “Appearance”> “Customize” is where you can update your LOGO and change the appearance of your design.
>Here are some FREE WordPress Theme recommendations
Step three: Spend some time getting to the website console
How to enter the console: you can go to the website of the host you purchased (Bluehost or Cloudways), log in to your account, and open your website console from the console of the host or add /wp- to your URL admin.
The WordPress website has a public website (front-end) and a console (back-end) visible to the administrator. There is a row on the toolbar at the top of the back-end and a row of console tools on the left. After installing the theme, you have to take the time to get to know the console.
Step four: Add content and page menus.
The content and page menu are quite different. Content is where you want to build a blog. On the contrary, the pages are where you will see them on your website menu, which means you if you go to appearance >menus, you will see the pages of the same menu
>Here are examples of page menu
Step five: Install the plugin to add new features.
If you want to use online teaching, online shopping, or a membership management system, you need to add a plugin to achieve it. Here are a few useful plugins. I suggest you try to add them first. For example, e-commerce websites are most commonly used in “WooCommerce,” and the online form function usually uses Contact Form 7 or Google form. You can use drag and drop to change the order of articles. You can use “Post Types Order.” You can use drag and drop to create articles or pages in a simple way. “Elementor” page editor plugin. It allows you to see the effect of the page editing when you edit the page, which is very convenient! The Shortcode Cleaner plugin is also essential. Beginners may want to try different themes, but whenever you change a theme, the shortcode of the previous theme may still exist in your website and not be deleted, which will affect your new code and cause all kinds of problems. Shortcode Cleaner can help you solve the problem of clearing shortcodes at a minimal cost.
Step six: Test, Test, and Test
I could imagine after you finish the website how excited you are, and you can’t wait to share with your family or friends; however, when you complete a preliminary website, please test each function to ensure they work correctly, especially the contact form, comment, shopping function and also test the website speed. You can use PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. It will provide you with the factors and solutions that affect your website.
Conclusion
It’s time to try and explore your new website. The process of making a website is an exciting and creative exploration. Regardless of whether you plan to invite professionals to create a website in the future, I suggest you try to make a website on your own first. It will make you more aware of your site structure and requirements, which will also help you be more logical in your future marketing. In addition, there are a bunch of resources that could give you more ideas about online business. please visit the IIDM blog.
If you don’t know how to design, no worries! Graph Engine can help you.
About the author:
Celine Yeh I am an intern at the International Institute of Digital Marketing™ I am a person who often likes to ask why, I always wonder if I can get a better answer or solution. I'm passionate about learning google analytics,google data studio and WordPress. My working motto is "Keep positive, stay Passionate and Sincere; teamwork is the key to success." LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celineyeh/